Sign assemblies for advertising and promotional purposes are in common use today. Many of these sign assemblies use flexible sheets of material stretched across frames in order to provide the advertising or promotional messages. Many of these frames are positioned on housings which have internal illumination means, such as fluorescent lights or point light sources, for back lighting the stretched sheets of material.
Typically, the sign assemblies include a housing, flexible sheets of material, internal illumination sources, frames to support the flexible sign, and tensioning systems or mechanisms to stretch and secure the flexible signs to the frames or housing. The flexible panel members have been used on single-face and double-face sign assemblies which are typically positioned on walls, poles, or other structures.
An illuminated canopy sign assembly having a flexible face system is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,324. Other flexible face sign assemblies and tensioning systems therefor are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,937,961, 4,955,928, 5,127,177, 5,245,773, 5,245,774 and 5,301,447. These known systems have mechanisms which tension and secure flexible sheets of material on or across a frame or to a housing. These flexible sign members may include legends or graphics which present a message or image to the passing public, and the sign assemblies may be adapted to be backlighted by illumination sources in order to present a more aesthetic message to the public.
Many of these known sign assemblies provide effective tensioning and securing systems for flexible sheets of material, but many are difficult and time consuming to use, are difficult to adjust once installed in place, and/or are relatively expensive. There thus is a need for a simplified and more economical system for installing and providing flexible face sign assemblies.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved mechanism and system for installing and tensioning flexible face sign assemblies. It is another object of the present invention to provide a system for stretching a sheet of flexible material across a frame or housing which is more economical and easier to use than known systems.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a mechanism and system which can be easily adjusted where necessary to change or correct the tensioning of flexible face sign assemblies. It is still another object of the present invention to provide unique assembly mechanisms and tools for use in securing and stretching flexible face sign materials on frames.
These and other objects, features, benefits and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention when viewed in combination with the attached drawings and appended claims.